As one of the fewer than five Mystery holders in Orario, Asfi naturally was no stranger to First-Class Adventurers, nor was she someone who had never witnessed the sight of such adventurers in battle.
She admitted that First-Class Adventurers were indeed formidable—so strong that even she, who was only one step away from reaching Level 5, could not hope to catch up. Even with the use of the many magic items she had invented, her chances of victory against a Level 5 First-Class Adventurer would still have been pitifully low.
Because of this, from the very beginning, she knew that First-Class Adventurers stood far above her and the combat power of her side.
Even so, she could not help but think that Riezel and Ais were different from other First-Class Adventurers—the difference was enough to overturn her very understanding of what 'First-Class Adventurer' meant.
Whether it was Riezel or Ais, the strength and combat power they displayed far exceeded any First-Class Adventurer she had ever known—reaching a level that defied all reason, since the sight of them mowing down the horde of monsters as though slicing through vegetables was something she could affirm no ordinary First-Class Adventurer could ever achieve.
Ais was understandable and still within the realm of normal—after all, she was already Level 6, far stronger than an ordinary First-Class Adventurer.
But Riezel?
Truth be told, she didn't really expect that the monster rookie who had reportedly just advanced to Level 5 not even a month ago, would truly possess such extraordinary power.
Not only was his swordsmanship in no way inferior to the city's strongest swordswoman, the Sword Princess, but his abilities in all aspects were also no less than hers, who had already reached Level 6.
He fought like a seasoned veteran, calm and composed even amidst intense battle, moving as if he had long grown accustomed to fighting tens of thousands of monsters day after day—the overwhelming pressure he created even surpassed that of the Sword Princess herself, who was a level above him.
Against the monster horde that filled the entire passage—dense and endless like a stampede of beasts—he fought as though his whole body had eyes.
With hair-raisingly precise swordsmanship, he cut down enemy after enemy while still managing to chant magic swiftly and sharply amid their frenzied assaults from all directions.
He performed five simultaneous actions—attack, defense, evasion, movement, and chanting—demonstrating a flawless mastery of Concurrent Chanting.
In the end, the magic he unleashed was powerful enough to destroy an entire passage, blasting it to pieces, and the explosion set off violent winds as well as a quake-like tremor so intense that the members of the Hermes Familia were blown away, screaming as they crashed to the ground.
It was clearly a short-chant single-target offensive magic, yet in Riezel's hands it displayed the destructive power of a long-chant, wide-area annihilation magic.
Such an attack power made Asfi tremble on the spot.
'No doubt, the rumors are true.'
'Riezel Brynhart not only possesses the ability to fight across levels but is also skilled in magic—able to cast magic spells used by the Sword Princess, Nine Hell, and Thousand Elf, with attack power comparable to Level 7.'
'Attack power that leaps two whole levels…'
Asfi found it simply unbelievable and absurd.
Indeed, magic was powerful—being the only supernatural force that adventurers could freely wield, it often served as their trump card, their ace, their final and most reliable weapon.
But the terrifying attack power Riezel displayed was far beyond what any magic alone could explain.
Attack power that transcended levels was not unheard of in Orario.
For instance, Riveria—the city's strongest mage—was renowned for her devastating magic. Even Level 7 Adventurers would be vaporized on the spot if struck without exceptional resistance.
And there was also Lefiya, whose high MAG and a skill that enhanced offensive magic allowed her to unleash magic spells at Level 3 that could rival a Level 5's attack power.
Now, Riezel possessed that same ability—no, his ability was even more astonishing than theirs.
Although Lefiya, too, could display attack power that spanned two levels, her leap from Level 3 to Level 5 paled in comparison.
Riezel, as a Level 5 Adventurer, achieved the might of Level 7—a far greater gap.
Even Riveria, the city's strongest mage, had only reached that scale of power after advancing to Level 6, whereas Riezel accomplished it at Level 5.
Was that not enough to shock anyone?
What was most incredible was that Riezel was not even a pure mage.
For a pure mage to unleash such overwhelming magic was understandable, for mages needed only to train in MAG, while other adventurers had to balance all four basic abilities equally.
Under those conditions, a mage focusing solely on MAG could raise it to extraordinary levels, making their magic naturally more powerful.
Riveria and Lefiya were prime examples—their astonishing magic power came not only from skills that enhanced magic potency but also from their extremely high MAG.
To speak plainly, both of them had likely reached S-rank in MAG before leveling up, accumulating immense potential in that basic ability.
However, for a non-mage adventurer to reach the same rank of MAG was no easy feat.
Riezel, clearly a swordsman of incredible swordsmanship, differed entirely from a mage—he did not specialize in MAG alone, so by all logic, it should have been nearly impossible for him to possess such high magic attack power.
And yet, he did.
He had achieved magical mastery on par with the city's strongest mage.
In swordsmanship, he could rival the city's strongest swordswoman, and even surpass her.
In magic, he could stand equal to the city's strongest mage, despite being a level lower.
In status, though only recently advanced to Level 5, he could already match those at Level 6.
'So this is the city's strongest magic swordsman...?'
At last, Asfi understood why that title had fallen upon Riezel.
Even though Orario was abuzz with tales of Riezel being the city's strongest magic swordsman, many still doubted it, which was understandable.
It should be noted that the White and Black Knights of the Freya Familia—two infamous magic swordsmen—both held higher levels.
Knowing that, how could a newly advanced Level 5 First-Class Adventurer surpass them?
With such reasoning, many opposed or questioned the claim, refusing to acknowledge Riezel's title.
Asfi herself had harbored doubts and thought it impossible for a newly advanced Level 5 magic swordsman to outmatch the Level 6 White and Black Knights, claiming the title of the city's strongest magic swordsman.
Now, however, she believed—or rather, she had no choice but to believe.
Judging by Riezel's swordsmanship, the power of his magic, his calm composure, and his effortless Concurrent Chanting even under a monster horde's assault, she was convinced that he was fully worthy of being called Orario's strongest magic swordsman.
At the very least, the White and Black Knights of the Freya Familia could not compare.
Their swordsmanship could not surpass Riezel's.
Their magic could not exceed his power.
Their Concurrent Chanting could not be more refined than his.
Maybe the only advantage they held was level—and even that was erased before Riezel's ability to challenge across levels.
Such a complete, all-encompassing victory—how could he not be the strongest?
Riezel undoubtedly deserved that title.
Time passed, and before long, the roars of countless monsters echoing through the labyrinth vanished.
Now, the ground was covered in corpses turned to dust, burying the broken path beneath, while magic stones scattered amid the dirt, glowing faintly like jewels half-buried in the soil, added to that dreadful scene with a strangely beautiful touch.
*Click—*
Riezel and Ais, having ended the battle, sheathed their swords in unison, their movements perfectly synchronized—as if mirrored, giving off a sense of perfect harmony.
"Everyone okay?"
Returning alongside the silent Ais, Riezel faced the awestruck members of the Hermes Familia as he approached Asfi.
"...I'm fine." Asfi answered after a brief silence, then sighed softly as if in reflection. "I'll be honest, I don't think the alias Trickster Sword suits you."
It was her honest thought.
It was absurd—the godlike swordsmanship, the near-divine magic mastery, the unbelievable status—none of it matched an alias as shady and ominous as Trickster Sword.
At Asfi's words, the surrounding members of the Hermes Familia nodded in agreement.
Anyone hearing that alias would instinctively assume Riezel was a shady swordsman, the type who preferred surprise attacks or assassinations from the shadows.
In fact, many had even analyzed Riezel's combat style based on that assumption.
Especially the familias at odds with Loki Familia—they had already drafted counter-strategies, treating Riezel as a hypothetical enemy.
If those people had truly designed their battle plans around that misleading alias, the members of the Hermes Familia could only imagine how terribly that would go for them.
Riezel's alias was simply too deceptive.
For those who had yet to encounter him, it could lead to dangerous misunderstandings.
At the very least, the Hermes Familia believed that if they had known from the start how fierce a magic swordsman Riezel truly was, they would never have reached for their weapons back at the Golden Cellar Bar.
Had a fight broken out then, their deaths would have been both swift and ugly.
Thinking of that, many of them wanted to complain to the various gods and the Guild responsible for assigning aliases.
Riezel, however, merely shook his head with a wry smile.
"Well, that was my goddess's little bit of mischief. Honestly, I didn't care much, so I let her have her fun."
At this, Asfi made a serious suggestion.
"I'll tell Lord Hermes to have your alias changed at the next Denatus."
Clearly, Asfi too was reminded of the bar incident and felt a lingering chill.
"Oh, the next Denatus, huh? Is it coming up soon?" Riezel asked while chuckling.
It wasn't Asfi who replied, but Ais.
"In about half a month." Ais said flatly. "Finn already spoke with Loki about changing your alias."
"Really?" Riezel blinked his eyes in surprise. "So the Captain's concerned about that sort of thing?"
"Mm..." Ais nodded lightly. "He said keeping it might negatively affect both you and the familia."
Upon hearing this, Riezel understood then.
He was now a First-Class Adventurer, an executive of the Loki Familia, and the city's strongest magic swordsman—his fame had already spread widely, making him one of the familia's representative figures.
For such a figure to keep a shady, distasteful alias would indeed harm both his image and the familia's.
One should know that the Loki Familia was, after all, one of the largest exploration-type familias on the surface, a symbol of hope for many and seen as heroes by countless people.
They represented humanity's ongoing struggle to uncover the Dungeon's secrets, contributing further to the long history of mankind's fight against monsters with honor and achievement.
For such a noble familia, having an executive bear an alias with a poor connotation truly wasn't ideal.
"So what did Loki say?" Riezel asked curiously.
"She agreed." Ais said without hesitation. "But… I heard she threw quite a tantrum about it."
Riezel immediately went speechless, though knowing that mischievous goddess, such a thing was no surprise.
"Yeah, forget it—just let her be." Riezel waved it off and turned back to Asfi. "Alright, let's keep moving, shall we?"
"Alright." Asfi nodded, having no objections.
After collecting the scattered magic stones and drop items, the group reorganized themselves and set out once more, heading north toward the Pantry, straying from the main path that led to the 25th Floor and instead moving toward the edge of the 24th.
Along the way, they encountered several more surges of monster hordes, yet every time Riezel and Ais stepped in, the battle ended swiftly.
Although the sheer number of monsters was abnormal, enough to overwhelm the Hermes Familia, whose leader was Level 4 and the rest mostly Level 3—against the pair of overwhelmingly powerful First-Class Adventurers, those Level 2 monsters could do nothing.
Among the monsters they met, the strongest was the Green Dragon—a dragon of the same type as Cadmus from the 51st floor—a rare monster species whose strength rivaled Level 4 and could even be considered the Monster Rex of the 24th.
Even though the Green Dragon had hidden among one of the charging monsters and launched a surprise attack on the Hermes Familia, nearly throwing their formation into chaos, with Riezel and Ais there, it stood no chance as the two struck in perfect sync from left and right, cleaving it into four pieces—just like the man-eating flower that had once attacked Lefiya on East Main Street.
Just like that, with Riezel and Ais at the front, the Hermes Familia advanced rapidly northward—the two took care of the fighting, while the others focused on investigating and moving forward.
Finally, the seventeen-member group reached the edge of the 24th Floor—near the northern Pantry.
As they arrived, they at last found the cause of the irregular monster outbreak and were left utterly speechless.
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[A bonus chapter for every 500 Power Stones.]
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